On Saturday, the winners of Kick Ass Oregon History’s annual Oregon history diorama contest were announced at a birthday party for Oregon, at Astoria’s Merry Time Bar. Kick Ass Oregon History’s got the blow-by-blow on their blog, but here’s the winner, this artful gem by Heather Arndt Anderson: It’s a depiction of the Roseburg Blast […]
Artsy
Posted inArtsy
Breathing Life into Disaster Porn: Kyle Thompson’s Ghost Town
Kyle Thompson FANCY A SWIM? Welcome to Kyle Thompson’s Ghost Town. I am so sick of disaster porn I almost didn’t go to formerly Chicagoan, current Portlander Kyle Thompson‘s new photography show, Ghost Town, up now through February 28 at One Grand Gallery (1000 SE Burnside). Thompson’s photographs—self-portraits in flooded, decaying environments—are gorgeous, very weird, […]
Posted inBooks
It’s a Great Day for Books: Here are Sparkplug’s Forthcoming Mini-Comics, Plus Lynne Tillman’s Weird Fucks
Sparkplug Comics This morning, Virginia Paine of Portland’s own Sparkplug Comic Books shared the press’s 2015 publishing schedule, which will add new titles to the Sparkplug Minis Series (SMS), “a collection of short run, limited addition mini-comics by up-and-coming and outstanding artists,” per Paine’s description. Here’s the lineup, which features frequent Merc contributor Suzette Smith: […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
This Week in Art: Sidekicks, Three-Ways, and Charming Weirdoes
With Fertile Ground over, this week we finally delved into some of the abundance of local theater running longer than a week: Steve saw Portland Center Stage’s production of Yussef El Guindi’s play, Threesome. Despite strong performances and an ambitious scope covering sexual politics, feminism, and identity, he reports that ultimately something kind of crucial […]
Posted inArtsy
Here’s a Valentine’s Day Alternative: The Grand Opening of New Community Arts Space Wolf and Rabbit Emporium
A new art community within an art community is having its grand opening on February 14 (Valentine’s Day). Wolf and Rabbit Emporium (5300 SE Foster) will house rotating and permanent works of art, as well as classes from local artisans for novices, kids, old folks, and seasoned artists alike, or anyone looking to explore new […]
Posted inFashion
Italian Style Is Coming, Along with a Full Schedule
Back when it was first announced that the Portland Art Museum would host the Italian Style: Fashion Since 1945 exhibit in collaboration with London’s Victoria & Albert Museum—the only West Coast venue to do so, no less—it was more than a year away. Lo and behold, it’s now just over the horizon, opening Saturday, Feb […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Lookbook of the Day: Comedians as Fashion Models for Self Edge’s “Between The Lines”
Proof that comedians have risen up the cultural ladder alongside musicians. They’re being used to sell expensive Japanese denim. Male comedians, even. Self Edge shot their lookbook for the winter season at LA’s The Comedy Store—a venue that nurtured people like Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Roseanne Barr, and Robin Williams—tapping comics Bobby Lee, Nick Youssef, […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
This Week in Art: New Things to See, Victoria Haven’s Latest, and That Lovable Goofball Miranda July Really Gets Us
Tackling Miranda July’s debut novel, performance art pigs, and abstract prints, we weren’t intimidated by weirdness in the Mercury‘s arts section this week. Here are our field reports from our strange journeys into the unknown: Victoria Haven: Jenna Lechner took on Victoria Haven’s latest work, Subtitles, up now at PDX Contemporary Art, and points out […]
Posted inArtsy
Get Weird: Your 2015 Fertile Ground Festival Starts Today!
Overunder Arts In this week’s paper, you’ll find a preview of Fertile Ground, Portland’s annual festival of new theatrical works, plus dance and performance art and folk operas and workshops of plays to come. And I’d recommend taking a look at it, because Fertile Ground starts today, and the giant lineup can be daunting to […]
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Melville Fans! You Could Win Two Tickets to Portland Story Theater’s “The Essex”!
Attention, Herman Melville devotees! You could win a pair of tickets to Portland Story Theater’s The Essex, which tells the real-life story of the ship that inspired Moby Dick (and also Ron Howard, turns out) by being rammed into by a sperm whale and sinking into a watery grave in the Pacific Ocean in 1820. […]
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Local High Schoolers Find Another Performance Venue for Evil Dead: The Musical; Evil Dead Writer Proud of Them
In case you missed it, last week we got some weird, sad news that a local high schooler had had her production of Evil Dead: The Musical canceled after school authorities allegedly deemed it not “school-appropriate.” Will Fries announced that The Funhouse Lounge would be hosting a few performances, with a second venue likely to […]
Posted inArtsy
Local High Schoolers to Perform Evil Dead: The Musical at Funhouse Lounge after School Allegedly Deemed the Production Not “School-Appropriate”
Renaissance Pictures HELLA CONTROVERSIAL. Yesterday, I got an email from Will Fries at the Funhouse Lounge with what appears to be the latest installment of schools rejecting student performances over content concerns. Here’s what Fries wrote in a press release sent on behalf of the Funhouse Lounge and local theater groups: Funhouse Lounge and a […]